SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer declared for the NFL draft Monday, giving up his senior season and opening up the Fighting Irish's starting job next year for Brandon Wimbush.

Kizer put together a solid junior season for a disappointing Fighting Irish team that went 4-8 in 2016. He threw for 2,925 yards and 26 touchdowns, and rushed for 472 yards and eight touchdowns. He ranks among the most prolific players in Notre Dame history despite playing extensively in only 24 games over the past two seasons.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Kizer could end up being the first quarterback selected in the draft in April.

Earlier this month, Malik Zaire, who served as backup to Kizer this season after competing for the starting job in the offseason, announced he was transferring from Notre Dame as a graduate student.

That leaves Wimbush as the most experienced quarterback on the roster. He was a highly recruited player out of New Jersey in 2015, and played sparingly this season for the Irish, completing 3 of 5 passes for 17 yards. Kizer thanked Notre Dame in a short video announcing his decision on Bleacher Report .

Kizer became the starter at Notre Dame early in the 2015 season after Zaire was injured against Virginia. In his first college action, Kizer led the Irish from behind for a victory against the Cavaliers with a late touchdown pass.

Zaire returned this season and he and Kizer had a tight competition in the spring and preseason. Coach Brian Kelly never did name a starter and both Kizer and Zaire were used in the team's opening night loss against Texas. Kizer was far more effective, but still Kelly would not commit.

Had some ups and downs, throwing eight interceptions, and was even benched for Zaire for some series during a 17-10 loss to Stanford in October.

"DeShone is an extremely gifted quarterback that was faced with a difficult decision," Kelly said. "He could return as a senior captain at Notre Dame -- a place that he loves, and with a program that respects him immensely. Or, he could begin the next chapter in his life and accept the opportunity that likely awaits in the NFL.

"While he chose the latter, the type of leadership DeShone displayed this past season will benefit our program moving forward. He'll certainly be missed on and off the field, but we're very happy for him and his family."

Alabama: Lane Kiffin leaving, going to FAUBOCA RATON, Fla. -- Lane Kiffin is about to be a head coach again, after agreeing Monday to start anew and take over at Florida Atlantic.

Kiffin's soon-to-be-former boss, Alabama coach Nick Saban, confirmed the hiring and said his offensive coordinator will remain with the Crimson Tide for the College Football Playoff.

"FAU has selected someone that's going to do a great job for them," Saban said in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, at a news conference to promote the upcoming Peach Bowl.

FAU had no immediate comment because the deal has not been finalized. Kiffin has agreed to a five-year contract, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because neither Kiffin nor the school had confirmed the hiring.

Kiffin has been the offensive coordinator at Alabama for the last three seasons, helping the Crimson Tide win last season's national championship and get back to the College Football Playoff with the No. 1 ranking this year. FAU will be his third collegiate head coaching job, and the first since USC fired him five games into the 2013 season.

"Lane's done a phenomenal job for us for the last three years," Saban said. "We appreciate the impact that he's made on this program. We think this is a wonderful opportunity for him to be a head coach again."

Saban said in recent days that he wanted to help Kiffin get another opportunity to be a head coach. It wasn't clear if Kiffin would have been back at Alabama next season otherwise.

"They've made a great hire," Saban said of FAU.

It has been an annual rite in recent years that Kiffin's name gets mentioned for high-profile openings, as it was in the past few weeks for since-filled jobs at Oregon and Houston.

Kiffin interviewed with Houston twice, the school's board of regents chairman told KILT-AM radio in Houston last week.

"Sure, he's been a head coach and he's been an OK head coach," the regent, Tilman Fertitta, said in that radio interview. "But I can tell you this -- it was not a safe hire."

FAU apparently disagreed.

FAU and Kiffin had their dialogue intensify late last week, although the pairing seemed somewhat unexpected. Kiffin made $1.4 million this season at Alabama; FAU was paying Charlie Partridge a bit over $500,000 annually when he was fired after his third consecutive 3-9 season.

FAU President John Kelly has wanted to continue raising the school's profile, including on the athletic fronts. And hiring Kiffin is the sort of splashy move that will certainly get the Owls plenty of attention.

Kiffin lasted 20 games as coach of the Oakland Raiders in 2007 and 2008, going 5-15.

He returned to college ball and was 7-6 in 2009, his lone season at Tennessee. And he went 28-15 in parts of four seasons at USC.

Kiffin becomes the third marquee head-coaching hire in the state of Florida in recent weeks. FIU hired former Miami and North Carolina coach Butch Davis in November, and former Louisville and Texas coach Charlie Strong was hired Sunday at South Florida.

For the third straight season, Big 5 blood rivals Villanova and Temple met with the Wildcats holding the No. 1 ranking in all the land.

And for the third straight season, the team from the Main Line showed just why it’s earned that distinction at the Owls’ expense.

Junior preseason All-American Jalen Brunson starred with a sparkling 31-point performance and redshirt freshman big man Omari Spellman wasn’t far behind with 27 of his own (and eight boards) as the duo led Villanova to a thorough 87-67 pasting of Temple at the Liacouras Center on Wednesday night.

Jay Wright’s Wildcats improved to 11-0 on the season while Fran Dunphy’s Owls fell to 6-3.

In the last three meetings between the squads, Villanova has outscored Temple by a 248-193 margin.

Best team in the city. Best team in the country.

• The Owls didn’t do themselves any favors out of the gate as they dug themselves a hole by starting 1 of 12 from the field, including some ugly offerings from three-point land. In the meantime, Brunson asserted dominance with 10 points in a 1:57 span as the ‘Cats jumped to a 20-5 advantage. In that span, Brunson put an Owl in the spin cycle with a spectacular spinning drive and finish. And for the cherry on top, the star junior drilled two straight treys. If anything, Brunson staked his claim to legitimately be in the National Player of the Year conversation on this night.

• Brunson was so good, here’s another observation about him: he just has a thing for sticking it to Dunphy and the Owls, whom were hot and heavy on his recruiting trail. In the spring of 2015, Brunson, then a five-star recruit out of Lincolnshire, Illinois, was choosing between Temple, Villanova and Illinois. Brunson is a Temple legacy as his father and former NBA player Rick starred under John Chaney. But he eventually signed with Villanova. In three games against his father’s alma mater, Brunson has accounted for 69 points on 23 of 33 from the field, including 13 of 20 from downtown.

• How about Spellman? Here’s about him: he was awesome on Wednesday, doing it all over the court, hitting all seven of his attempts inside the arc and then drilling four more out of it. The 6-foot-9 forward has brilliant touch on his jumper as he entered a 43 percent three-point shooter. And that number only improved after torching the Owls for 27. He’s a matchup nightmare, perhaps like no other Wright has ever had at Villanova. That’s a scary thought.

• Temple’s defeat was certainly no fault of sophomore guard Quinton Rose, Temple’s leading scorer entering the game with 17.3 points per contest. With the Owls in a huge first-half hole, Rose got things cooking with three straight three-pointers that ignited a 13-0 run and cut a 20-point lead to just seven. But that’s as close as Temple would get. But still, Rose was a huge bright spot for Temple with a team-high 27 points on 9 for 12 shooting, including 5 of 6 from downtown.

• One night after helping lead the the Sixers to an OT victory in Minnesota, Ben Simmons was back on the court ... in his courtside seat taking in the action at the Liacouras Center next to former Temple star Dionte Christmas. Simmons’ head coach, Brett Brown, was also in attendance. A few seats to the left of Simmons, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney experienced the Big 5 rivalry up close.

• A quiet night for star and NBA draft prospect Mikal Bridges. The 6-7 uber-athlete, who entered the contest as Villanova’s leading scorer with 18.1 points per night, had just seven points on 3 for 10 shooting. Yes, Brunson and Spellman ran the show on Wednesday, but Bridges wasn’t his noticeable self. A far cry from the Gonzaga game at MSG last week when he dominated the ranked Zags at every turn. But the fact the ‘Cats dominated the way they did against a solid, talented Temple team is a testament to their depth. Even if one of the stars has off night like Bridges did Wednesday, there are still so many playmakers Wright can lean on. That depth, which the ‘Cats were lacking overall last season, makes Villanova as dangerous as ever. Think about that.

• An even quieter night for versatile Temple senior forward Obi Enechionyia. In fact, barely a peep. Poor shooting and a strong Villanova defensive effort contributed to that as the senior had just three points on 1 for 7 from the field. Temple needs more from him. Heard in the crowd after Enechionyia missed a free throw in the second half: “That’s why he’s at Temple and not Villanova.”

• The victory extended Villanova’s record Big 5 winning streak to 22 games. The last time the ‘Cats lost a Big 5 game was on Dec. 2, 2012, when Scootie Randall dropped 21 points to lead Temple to a 76-61 triumph at the Pavilion. Eleven of the last 12 wins in the streak have come by at least 10 points, the only exception being Sunday’s 77-68 decision over La Salle. Ladies and gents, that’s called domination.

• Villanova is back in action next Thursday with a visit to Nassau Coliseum to face Hofstra, Wright’s former school where he coached from 1994-2001. Temple stays in the City 6 to host Drexel this Saturday.

Walk-on to Heisman: Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield wins in landslide

Walk-on to Heisman: Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield wins in landslide

NEW YORK -- Baker Mayfield took a unique road to the Heisman Trophy, a long and winding climb from walk-on to one of the most accomplished players to ever play college football.

The brash, flag-planting Sooners star became the sixth Oklahoma player to the win Heisman Saturday night in one of the most lopsided votes in the 83-year history of the award.

Stanford running back Bryce Love was the runner-up, making it five second-place finishes for the Cardinal since 2009. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson, last year's Heisman winner, was third, the best finish by a returning winner since Tim Tebow of Florida in 2008.

Mayfield received 732 first-place votes and 2,398 points. Love had 75 first-place votes and 1,300 points and Jackson received 47 and 793. Mayfield received 86 percent of the total points available, the third-highest percentage in Heisman history behind Ohio State's Troy Smith (91.63 percent) in 2006 and Oregon's Marcus Mariota (90.92) in 2014.

Mayfield is the third player to win the Heisman heading to the College Football Playoff. The second-ranked Sooners meet No. 3 Georgia in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. He is the first senior to win the award since Smith and the first Heisman winner to begin his career as a walk-on since athletic scholarships started in the 1950s.

"It's been a tough journey," Mayfield said during his acceptance speech. He choked back tears thanking his parents and Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley.

"Tried to play it cool," Mayfield said later. "That's not my thing though. I'm a guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve."

Mayfield finished fourth in the Heisman voting two years ago and third last year.

"It's motivating for me to be the best in the country," Mayfield said.

He entered this season as one of the favorites and jumped toward the front of the pack when he led the Sooners to an early victory at Ohio State that he celebrated by planting the OU flag in the Horseshoe turf.

He later apologized for that, but that has been Mayfield's career. Spectacular play fueled by grudges, slights and trying to prove doubters wrong. Moxie is the word that gets attached to Mayfield often, but at times poor judgment has gotten him in trouble on and off the field.

Those were really the only marks on Mayfield's Heisman resume because his play has been consistently stellar. He has thrown for 4,340 yards and 41 touchdowns this season for the Big 12 champion Sooners (12-1). For his career, Mayfield is eighth in FBS history in yards passing (14,320) and sixth in touchdown passes (129). He is likely to leave college with the two best single-season passer ratings in major college football.

Pretty good for a scrawny kid who grew up in Austin, Texas, rooting for Oklahoma, but did not receive a scholarship offer out of high school from either the hometown Longhorns or his beloved Sooners.

At Lake Travis High School, Mayfield won a state championship at a school that regularly pumps out Division I quarterbacks. Mayfield was undersized at 6-1 and received just one offer from a Power Five program -- Washington State.

Instead, he walked-on at Texas Tech and started eight games as a freshman. With a glut of quarterbacks in Lubbock, Mayfield left and had only one school in mind.

Oklahoma had Trevor Knight, coming off a Sugar Bowl victory against Alabama and with three more seasons left of eligibility, but that did not dissuade Mayfield.

Mayfield thanked former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops, who also was at the Best Buy Theater in midtown Manhattan, for welcoming a "chubby, unathletic kid into the program with open arms."

His departure from Texas Tech was contentious. At first, he lost a year of eligibility, despite not being on scholarship. Texas Tech could have given permission to waive the lost year, but did not.

Mayfield eventually got that year of eligibility back when the Big 12 tweaked its rules, but he never did let it go. For his last game against Texas Tech this season, he wore the "Traitor" T-shirt that some Red Raiders fans wore when he first returned to Lubbock with Oklahoma.

Later in the year, it was Kansas -- or all teams -- that tried to get the volatile Mayfield off his game. Jayhawks captains refused to shake his hand during the pregame coin flip. They trash-talked Mayfield and even took a late hit at him. He responded by screaming profanities and making a lewd gesture that television cameras caught. That led to a public apology from Mayfield, his third this year.

The first came after he was arrested in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in February for public intoxication, disorderly conduct and fleeing. He pleaded guilty to three misdemeanors and paid a $300 fine. The second came after that flag planting in Columbus, Ohio, after the Sooners beat the Buckeyes. Mayfield said before that early season showdown that the Buckeyes had irked him by celebrating on the Sooners' field in 2016.

Mayfield joins Jason White and Sam Bradford as Oklahoma quarterbacks who won the award since 2003. Only Notre Dame, Ohio State and USC have won more Heisman trophies with seven each.

Mayfield is an old-school winner. For decades, seniors dominated the Heisman, but over the last 10 years four juniors, four sophomores and two redshirt freshmen have won the Heisman. By comparison Mayfield has been around forever, that first season at Texas Tech coming in 2013. He has played 47 college games. Only USC's Carson Palmer with 50 had played more when he won his Heisman in 2002.

There is at least one more game to play for Mayfield, and maybe two. He and the Sooners will go into the playoff as a slight underdog against Georgia, which seems only appropriate for a player who has built his career on exceeding expectations.

Asked what has been his best moment, Mayfield predictably answered: "It hasn't happened yet."